Michelle Yeoh just won an Oscar and is now back to making movies. This time, she’ll be returning to her Star Trek: Discovery character for a new film based on the Star Trek black ops organization known as Section 31.
Star Trek: Section 31 follows her character, the Emperor Philippa Georgiou. And if you are not very familiar with Star Trek, you might be confused. There are Emperors? Yes, yes, there are. Settle in, folks, as I explain the history of this character.
Philippa Georgiou was the original captain of the ship Discovery but was killed in the pilot episode, and her death creates much of the friction for the surviving characters in the first season. Later in the season, her “evil” Mirrorverse counterpart shows up. The Mirrorverse is a universe like our own, only where people often have questionable facial hair choices and often are the moral opposites of their main universe counterparts.
So where one Philippa had been a kind and maternal captain who loved her crew dearly, the other was a ruthless (and maternal) Emperor who ate sentient creatures, took slaves, and generally was a terrible human being. The Emperor then found herself stranded in the primary Star Trek universe onboard the Discovery and slowly came around to being less of a monster — but still a prickly character next to the genuinely good and kind crew of the ship.
The reaction to her character was good enough that rumors popped up that Paramount Plus and Yeoh were developing a spinoff series about her character joining Section 31, which is kind of the Star Trek equivalent of the CIA. In 2019, the series was confirmed to be in development. Then there was silence, and with the success of shows like Picard, which are set in a very different time period, it was easy to assume that the series might have died a quiet death in development hell.
But Section 31 is still happening! Only it will be a film instead of a TV series. This will be the first film based on characters from Star Trek: Discovery and the first Star Trek film to be based on a single character rather than an entire crew. While details on the plot are scarce so far, today’s announcement suggests that Yeoh’s Emperor will be reckoning with her villainous past — think Xena in space.
“Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of ‘Star Trek’ launched,” Yeoh said in a press release. “To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that’s shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams. We can’t wait to share what’s in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise)!”
Star Trek: Section 31 will appear on Paramount Plus at a later date and begins production later this year.
Michelle Yeoh just won an Oscar and is now back to making movies. This time, she’ll be returning to her Star Trek: Discovery character for a new film based on the Star Trek black ops organization known as Section 31.
Star Trek: Section 31 follows her character, the Emperor Philippa Georgiou. And if you are not very familiar with Star Trek, you might be confused. There are Emperors? Yes, yes, there are. Settle in, folks, as I explain the history of this character.
Philippa Georgiou was the original captain of the ship Discovery but was killed in the pilot episode, and her death creates much of the friction for the surviving characters in the first season. Later in the season, her “evil” Mirrorverse counterpart shows up. The Mirrorverse is a universe like our own, only where people often have questionable facial hair choices and often are the moral opposites of their main universe counterparts.
So where one Philippa had been a kind and maternal captain who loved her crew dearly, the other was a ruthless (and maternal) Emperor who ate sentient creatures, took slaves, and generally was a terrible human being. The Emperor then found herself stranded in the primary Star Trek universe onboard the Discovery and slowly came around to being less of a monster — but still a prickly character next to the genuinely good and kind crew of the ship.
The reaction to her character was good enough that rumors popped up that Paramount Plus and Yeoh were developing a spinoff series about her character joining Section 31, which is kind of the Star Trek equivalent of the CIA. In 2019, the series was confirmed to be in development. Then there was silence, and with the success of shows like Picard, which are set in a very different time period, it was easy to assume that the series might have died a quiet death in development hell.
But Section 31 is still happening! Only it will be a film instead of a TV series. This will be the first film based on characters from Star Trek: Discovery and the first Star Trek film to be based on a single character rather than an entire crew. While details on the plot are scarce so far, today’s announcement suggests that Yeoh’s Emperor will be reckoning with her villainous past — think Xena in space.
“Section 31 has been near and dear to my heart since I began the journey of playing Philippa all the way back when this new golden age of ‘Star Trek’ launched,” Yeoh said in a press release. “To see her finally get her moment is a dream come true in a year that’s shown me the incredible power of never giving up on your dreams. We can’t wait to share what’s in store for you, and until then: live long and prosper (unless Emperor Georgiou decrees otherwise)!”
Star Trek: Section 31 will appear on Paramount Plus at a later date and begins production later this year.